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Now, it looked as if she was not the only one thinking beyond friendship. Was he saying what she thought he was? Did he want to be more than friends?
She did not trust her voice with the way her heart was pounding. He was still watching her, his gaze dropping to her mouth every so often and she ended up nodding instead of saying yes to his question.
He smiled before lowering his head.
Much like the first time, Ben’s kiss was nothing more than a brush of his lips across her own. The soft contact still made her heart race out of control and caused every nerve to fire at once.
He pulled back to look at her, then cupped her cheek. This time, he licked her lip and she all but melted as she parted them and he slipped his tongue inside. She braced a hand on the ground beside her to keep from sagging into a puddle.
The angle was bad, the contact not nearly close enough, but all it took was her leaning back a few inches and giving him room to lean into her more. And he did. He caged her body in with his arms and eased her to the ground.
Her groan of pleasure slipped out before she could stop it, but that small sound seemed to ignite something within him. He grabbed her, his arms wrapping around her body as he crushed her to him, and she heard her heart pounding in her ears at the contact.
Lifting one arm, she wrapped it around his neck, pulling him closer as he tasted her deeply. The sensation was euphoric. His leg slid between her own, his thigh hitting just right, and it took all the self control she had not to grind against it.
He pulled back much too soon, his breath warm against her lips. “You want me to stop?”
No she did not. She wanted to feel him against her, over her, his weight holding her down as he slid between her legs.
He had one hand resting on her hip and she reached for it, pulling it closer and laying it on her breast. “I do not want you to stop.” She lifted a leg, draping it over his hip. “I will not stop you from doing anything you wish.”
Heat flared in his eyes so bright, she knew he caught her meaning without saying a word. She wanted him. Wanted to feel him deep inside her. He kissed her again, licking inside her mouth as his hand squeezed her breast. It wasn’t close enough. She wanted to feel the heat of it against her aching nipples. Wanted to feel his mouth on them, tasting, sucking.
She groaned and pulled away as he buried his face against her neck. Her body burned from nothing more than his kiss and her pulse was racing out of control, the sound of her blood whooshing past her ears deafening.
The noise grew, the ground shaking with it, and it only took a moment to realize it was not her heart she was hearing, but horses.
Ben continued to pepper small kisses against her skin. She glanced over his shoulder a moment before he sat up and looked behind him. He had heard them too.
Two riders were heading straight for them. Ben sat up, then stiffened. She recognized the one in front. It was the man who had tossed Ben out of the saloon the day before.
He drew his horse to a stop on the other side of the creek and grinned. “Well, what do we have here?”
Ben stood and placed himself in front of her as Morning Dove crawled to her feet. She had never hidden from anyone, but when Ben reached back and grabbed at her before placing her behind him, she did as he silently asked and stayed there.
The man in front leaned to one side to look at her. “Boss is going to love this.”
“What do you want,” Ben asked.
Morning Dove peered around Ben’s shoulder. The strangers were filthy. Dirt clung to their clothes and their horses were burdened with large packs of blankets and bags. Drifters, if she had to guess.
The one in front was staring at her, the smile on his face causing her to cringe back behind Ben. Since arriving in Willow Creek, she was not afraid of much, but these men rode down across the valley to where they were so she held no delusions they were here for niceties. Something in the smug tone of voice the man in front had told her something was not right. These two had trouble etched into every craggy line on their weathered faces and her perfect morning was turning sour by the second.
A lone figure appeared over the rise. He stopped at the edge of the road and stared down at them. One of the two men lifted his hand, waving before giving a shrill whistle, and the newcomer headed down the hill toward them.
“We've been looking for you, girl.”
Looking for her? Morning Dove tore her attention from the rider headed their way back to the two in front of them. The one who had spoken nudged his horse across the creek, the other man following him.
“You should pick better friends, Morning Dove. That’s your name, isn’t it?”
She stiffened when he said her name. How did these men know her? Neither of them looked familiar.
The lone rider was closer now. She could make out his shape. Could see his stocky build and the grizzled brown and silver beard covering his chin. When she could see his face, recognition caused the world to stop spinning. Her heart skipped a beat, then slammed against her rib cage, pounding so hard blood rushed through her body fast enough she saw stars flash in front of her eyes.
She grabbed the back of Ben’s shirt with both hands as she suddenly could not breathe. “Run.” She was not sure if she said it loud enough for Ben to hear, but tugged on his shirt until he turned to look at her.
“Everything will be fine,” Ben said. “Let me handle this.” He took her hands in his own and smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. Fury shined in them instead and she knew in an instant this was going to go bad.
